This is, of course, why we end up with people like Rachel Dolezal and Jessica Krug, as within academia identity gets wielded as a shield. The more oppression one can claim, the more that your career will progress, unhindered by questions like whether your work can be substantiated, or even if it meets measures of basic competence.
Exactly. I read an article in the DM this morning saying that the president (I think) of the NUS is predicting a huge surge in Covid when students return to University and that they should therefore stay away. Of course, ‘disadvantaged’ students including black, gay, trans, poor and disabled should be exempted. I can easily see a scenario where a wave of straight, middle class white students start identifying as ‘queer’, ‘non binary’ or having a disability.
I know it’s a bit of a taboo issue to discuss, so I’ve never brought it up here before, but there is a rise in people self-iding as disabled. I know someone (a relative by marriage) who has decided that they have Asperger’s and is happy to tell everyone this. They have never been diagnosed or even sought a diagnosis. Their ‘evidence’ is that they have an obsessive interest in engineering and poor social skills. This is just as insulting to those with the condition as men who state they are women because they like high-heels and pink mini skirts.